Revival of Estabrook Park Includes Beer Garden, Possible Sports Upgrades

There are big changes in the works for Shorewood’s largest dedicated green space, including a beer garden anchoring the Milwaukee River.

Most of the 50 acres of county-owned Estabrook Park, which runs from East Hampton Avenue to East Capitol Drive adjacent to the Oak Leaf Trail, are within Shorewood. The village will pump $50,000 into park improvements in an arrangement with Milwaukee County that provides for sewer pipes to be run through Estabrook.

Shorewood's money largely will upgrade restrooms, while the Milwaukee County Parks System has plans to add a beer garden. The beer garden will include picnic tables, with lighting strung from trees, OnMilwaukee.com reports.

Organizers plan to serve beer in glasses along with traditional items like brats, pretzels and hot dogs. The glassware would be rented out. The beer garden will operate from Memorial Day through Labor Day from Wednesday through Sunday.

As part of , which couldn’t handle torrential rains in July 2010, officials want to run sanitary piping through the park to connect with the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District’s system.

Milwaukee County told Shorewood it would allow the village to place the pipes for a one-time cost of $50,000. Village officials say they were given the option of simply handing over the funds or putting the $50,000 into the park, with the caveat that $40,000 go toward renovating the park's old bathrooms.

Village Manager Chris Swartz said the bathrooms are very outdated and with all the residents that venture out to the dog park or disc golf course at Estabrook, the county wants the bathrooms up to snuff.

Trustee Jeff Hanewall said the village is leaning toward using the other $10,000 for sports equipment improvements.

"We could write them a check for $50,000, but I think both (the county) and the village would be better served by rather than handing over $50,000 in cash, we could provide some work to the park," he said.

Village President Guy Johnson said there’s no guarantee the county would funnel the money into the park, so it makes sense for the village to ensure the park sees the money through renovations.

Swartz said before the village goes out for bids, it will do some research to see how much renovating the bathrooms would actually cost and might seek some donations for the renovations.